WBG Score: 8.5
Player Count: 1-4
You’ll like this if you like: The idea of flying around a Star Wars universe, being a bad ass!
Published by: Fantasy Flight Games
Designed by: Corey Konieczka, Tony Fanchi
This is a free review copy. See our review policy here.
I love Star Wars. I love Star Wars games. Rebellion is one of my all-time favourites. But it is a bit of a beast. It takes a good few hours to play and is not the easiest to teach. As such, it is a bit of a one time a year treat for me as I only know two people up for it! I would love a game that lets me pretend I am in the Star Wars universe like this that is just that little bit more accessible. Something that I can get to the table a more often. That is exactly what Star Wars: Outer Rim promises. But does it deliver? Let's get it to the table and find out.
How To Set Up Star Wars: Out Rim Board Game Review
First, lay out the six map tiles. There is a specific order to these that you can copy from the rule book to create a more balanced game. But feel free to set them out however you want if you have played a few times or simply want some variation. Just note the game may not be as balanced in terms of how easy/difficult it will be for players to move from planet to planet. Next, place the level one Patrol ships on the first space at either side of the bottom tile, on the space matching their symbol/faction/colour. Which ever you see best! Place the level two, three, and four Ships below each one, ready to come into combat later with the level four on the bottom and level two on the top.
Now take all the Contact (people) tokens and place them randomly face down on the board but be sure that they are on a space that matches their colour. Each planet will have two Contacts present. Then place the Credits into separate piles of thousands, five thousand, and ten thousand tokens, along with the damage tokens, goal tokens and dice.
Then place the cards that represent each planet - shuffled into separate decks - below each tile that has those planets pictured. This is not essential, I think it makes more thematic sense when the cards are close to the planets they represent. So that when you take them, you are doing so from that geographic area. It just feels right to me. Next, place the Waypoints deck and data bank deck into a central area, they can go anywhere really! Keep the data bank deck in order, this one does not need a shuffle. Underneath this, lay out the six individual market decks, again, each shuffled separately. One will be smaller in number for the Ships, don't worry, you haven't lost any cards.
Next, set up each player by taking a standee, starting ship (they are double sided so make your choice) character card (placed on the goal starting side) player board, four reputation tokens (placed into the slots in the player board in the middle neutral position), a reference card, and four thousand credits. Each subsequent player after the starting player gains an additional two thousand credits.
Each player will now arrange their components so their character card is set within the space at the bottom of their player board, and their chosen starting ship is positioned to the left of this. On the bottom of their character card, it will show which starting resources they have. This will include a data bank card which could be Cargo, if so, add this to the Cargo space in their ship. Also, note your starting skills shown at the bottom of you character cards. Such as Bossk above who has Strength and Tactics. These are traits you are skilful at, which will help you in later skill tests. You character card may also give you instructions to increase or decrease one of your four reputation tracks. Move the track up or down one space accordingly. Note, these tracks have three positions. Top, middle or bottom. At first glance, I thought there were a lot more. You are now ready to begin the game.
How To Play Star Wars: Out Rim Board Game Review
The game works with each player taking it in turns to run through three simple steps in a race to get to ten fame points first. You can play to eight for a shorter game, or twelve for guess what? Correct! A longer game. Your choice. The first step players take on their turn is to decide if they want to either take two thousands credits, clear all damage from their character and ship, or move their ship on the main board. Moving will be chosen a lot more often, but it is handy to have the other options for sure. You will get a lot more than two thousand credits for completing missions, but early on it can be useful to help you gain crucial gear or upgrades to accelerate your early game progress. Taking too much damage does kill you or destroy your ship, but if it happens to you, you will have to pay three thousands credits, discard any secrets you have (more on that soon) and then spend your next turn recovering all damage to get back into the game. Best not let that accumulate too much!
Moving is dictated by your ships Hyperdrive value, shown on the top left of your ship mat. You can move to any planet or way point up to the maximum of your movement points. You can move wherever you like and go wherever you like. The only spot on the board that affects movement is the Maelstrom spot, just next to Kessel, identified by a small red circle. When you move through this you must end your movement. Equally, if you ever move past a patrol ship that is from a faction with whom you have neutral or negative reputation you must stop as well. If you have positive reputation you can keep on trukin'.
Once players have made their choice to either move, gain two thousand credits or repair all damage, they will then move into the Action phase. Here, players can carry out as many actions as they are able and want to. This will be a mix of trading with other players, buying items from the market (so long as they have ended their movement on a planet) delivering something to the planet on which they are currently located, or carrying out any other Action shown on any cards they have gained during the game.
When you Trade with other players, you can do so for whatever you like as long as you are in the same location as them. You can trade whatever you want, however you want, even for future promises. But beware, other players do not have to honour those promises! If you are not on the same space, you can still trade, but only credits, which, even in the Outer Rim, can be wired anywhere and at any time.
Going to the Market lets players buy any single card from the top of either of the six available decks. Before you make your choice, players can move one card on one pile from the top to the bottom and draw another to cycle through the decks a little, and then buy any top card you like. The cost is shown on the top right, and some cards are free. Cards can be Cargo to deliver on a later turn, Jobs to do on certain planets, Upgrades to your ship or character in the form of Gear and Mods, and Bounties - which mean you need to find a certain character and bring them to justice! Or death. Your choice. After you make a purchase you will reveal the next card. If it has a movement symbol such as the first two cards above, you will move the appropriate Patrol ship the displayed number of spaces. Move them towards the nearest player in anyway you wish, but if there is enough movement so that they end on the same space as the nearest player, you must take that route.
When you head to specific planets linked to certain cargo, jobs, or bounties, you can then deliver that item, person, or fulfil that job. This will reward you with various financial payments, increases in faction reputations, fame (the scoring system in the game), or elicit a further encounter. Some jobs require you to run through certain skill tests. This is done by rolling two dice. Then, depending on your skill level you will either pass and gain the reward/avoid the damage or fail and miss the reward/take the damage. At the bottom of your character card, and any crew you may have picked up along the way (more on that soon) there will be certain Skill key words. If you test Piloting and you have a Piloting skill, then you just need to roll one success. If you have the Skill twice then you can roll any success or a Focus icon. If you have no associated Skills then you need to roll a critical success. The dice are eight sided and offer these three options twice each and two blanks. It's a great system that lets you test any skill at any point in the game, but as you build up your engine and skill set, your chances of success greatly increase. However, they are always available to you.
If you want to fulfil a Bounty, you first need to find that character. Which can take some time! And then fight them. You will do so by rolling dice based on your current combat strength and any associated additional weapons. You will compare this to dice rolled based on the Bounty's own combat strength. If you roll more hit points - you win the combat. You can then kill them and gain a small reward, or take them to a specific planet as shown on the
Bounty card and gain a higher reward. Dead of Alive. The choice is yours. But alive always makes more credits!
When you have finished with all your chosen actions you must then have an Encounter. This can be with either a Patrol ship (no matter of your current reputation with them - you can happily double cross your friends in this game!) a character on a Planet, (if you are on a Planet and there are characters remaining) something on the Planet itself, of if you are on a Waypoint, a Waypoint card.
If it is a Waypoint or Planet, simply draw the top card from the associated deck and read out the text. This could send you down all sorts of paths. There will be a clue as to the type of Encounters each Planet could offer on the back of the card. Some cards show a Secret mission. If this is the case, do not read that part out and keep the card face down in front of you until the mission is relevant later in the game, or you want to activate it. Some offer the chance to recruit new Crew such Takodana above. This then gives you an extra Action to carry out on your next Action phase if you so choose.
When you Encounter with a character flip the token over and then look at the number on the left of the Character token. This will link to a card in the Databank deck. Take this card and read it out. Again, there will be a plethora of different types of Encounters here. Simply follow the text accordingly. Some will allow you to recruit the characters you are having the Encounter with to become a member of your crew. If so, you can add the card into a crew slot on your ship and gain the benefit they offer as shown on their card.
If you have an Encounter with a Patrol ship this means you will fight them! The Patrol ship token will show how many dice it will roll. You will roll the number associated with your current Ships attack value plus any extra from Mods you may have. Most damage wins. Ties go to you as the aggressor. If you win, you will drop one Reputation with the associated Faction, gain the reward shown on the Ship token (money or Fame) and then remove it from the board. Then take the next Ship in line from the faction you just defeated and place it on the first space on the board. If you lose, simply move the Patrol ship one space away from you.
Players can also complete their own personal mission as shown on their character card, and Ship goals, as shown on all new ships you may buy in the game. When you complete either of these, you will be rewarded, typically with credits and Fame.
The game continues like this until one player reaches the predetermined Fame target, be that eight, ten, or twelve. The game immediately ends at that point, and that player is declared the winner and the most notorious Outlaw in the Galaxy. Who said crime didn't pay?
Is It Fun? Star Wars: Out Rim Board Game Review
This game delivers everything I hoped it would - and more. Rebellion is still the better game. But this brings what I had wished it would, with a much more accessible Star Wars experience, but still one that gives me the same feelings. When I play Outer Rim I feel like I am in the Star Wars universe. I feel like I am doing jobs in Galaxies far far away. But unlike Rebellion, the start time - come the end of the game, does not feel like a long time ago.
There is a lot to like about this game. It's not perfect, and we will come to that. But let's start with the positives. Because that is how I feel when I play this. First, other that the theme, this game gives me a real sense of control. Right from the start, choosing my character and ship, the process feels involved. There is a strong sense of agency at every stage. Every decision. I always feel in control of my destiny as I explore this universe. And it is that sense of exploration within the sandbox-style game, along with the deeply thematic choices, that makes me love this game so much.
Everything just feels so "Star Wars." It's like when you are at a theme park, and you start to get caught up in the "world" you are in. And then you see another Tourist in a branded T-Shirt and sports shoes. Perhaps you hear a noise in the distance and look up and see a plane over head. Oh yeah. I'm not in Batuu. Gosh I am silly. Well, in this game, there are no branded T's. No planes flying over head. If you ever do hear an engine in the sky, its probably the gosh darn Millennium Falcon!
The fonts. The colour scheme. Even the iconography. And obviously the characters, ships, and planets. This is ALL Star Wars, and I love it. When I "do a job" for the Hutt's, or try to capture Chewie, it feels like that is what I am doing. Obviously not literally. But I get caught up on this game because all the details are there. It feels familiar, welcoming, and most of all exciting. I want to get caught up, so I do.
Let me give you an example. I played a game the other day when I was Lando. I bought the Millennium Falcon. It felt great. Why would it not! But there was some jealousy coming from around the table when I did this. One particular player seemed most irked, but unbeknownst to me, had been given the above secret mission after a visit to Tatooine. It took them a while to pull it off as they had to be on the same planet as me, which does not happen all that often. They then paid 6,000 credits, tested their Influence, and were able to draw card 40.
This put us both into a friendly game of Sabacc, the game seen in the movies. And how Han got hold of the keys to the Falcon himself in the original stories. Back to the game, the other player first had to test their Influence again, which they failed. This forced them to try step two instead of skipping straight to step three. In step two, I was able to test my own Tactics skill to try and regain my control on the situation. Sadly, I also failed, giving them the advantage again. They tested their Tactics, passed, and gained the reward. Which, back to the first card, allowed them to take the Falcon right from me. Sound familiar? Well, I was not on Numidian Prime, and I hope no one cheated, but wow, this felt great. Never before have I enjoyed losing something I wanted so much before! I was living Star Wars. The only way I can see this being a better experience, would be if they had a hidden compartment in the box with the pieces needed to play an actual game of Sabacc. Oh, and a real Falcon for the winner. But that is probably out of the realms of EBITDA profits for the publisher.
I love the way the characters you can meet and interact with are placed face down at the start of the game. The art, showing the interference on a communication device is perfect. “Help Me Obi-Wan Kenobi, You’re My Only Hope... Oh, its Gary, sorry. Wrong number." Then, when searching for certain people because of a bounty you may have accepted, you will know the character's colour, but nothing more. Certain powers let you search more efficiently for characters, or peak under tokens in Planets you are not even on, but part of the process of trying to find specific people will be flying to different planets and going up to them. I love that. It's slower than it may have been, but it's real. And the rewards from the bounties make the search worth it. And the people you find mistakenly along the way will generally give you something else useful anyway. There are not many wasted turns here.
But there are some. And this brings me to the main thing I do not like about this game. On some occasions, often in the early game stage, you can have an encounter that, due to a lack of funds or space on your ship, you will gain no or minimal benefit from. It can be frustrating. But, you have to remember this is an engine builder of sorts, and at the start of the game, your engine is weak. You have a crappy ship, minimal experience, no gear, weapons, or allegiances, and just a few credits. It makes thematic sense, but you do need to understand and respect the build here. And be patient. Because, for me, the pay off is well worth it.
Dengar is a good example of this. If you meet him early on, it is unlikely you will be bale to defeat him, seeing as he rolls five dice. Equally, you may not have any negative reputation at this point anyway. As such, the encounter becomes a little fruitless for you. Dengar's bandages also now seem to be more of a hood, or scarf?
The downtime between turns can also be frustrating, especially if you have a great turn ready to go! The wait is never long. The anticipation can be tough, though! And as this is a longer game, looking more like two to three hours, depending on player count, you will want to keep turns flowing. Players ideally need to be engaged, ready to go, and attentive at all times to make this game really sing. Most of the time you can prepare your turn without concern of what the other players will do. There is a lot of player interaction here, but generally, you will be able to do what you want when you want. Someone else may interact with a character you were hunting down before you get an opportunity yourself. But chances are, if this happens, you had a bounty for them, meaning the other player did not, so they would not have killed them, and more likely recruited them. You can still continue your hunt; it's just now they are flying around on another player's ship. But at least you know exactly where to find them!
The whole experience just feels to me like it is incredibly well thought out by fans of the Star Wars universe, and who understand gaming. When you deliver cargo, all good. Just head to the address, and chuck the box down wherever. You know the drill! But, if that cargo is illegal, you will need to succeed on a single die skill test first! But, if you fail, that is not a complete fail. No, draw one of the four card ones in the game and see what fate awaits you. I won't reveal what happens here, as it is way more fun for you to find out yourself when you play. It's nothing huge. It just shows the level of intricacies that have gone into this game. Divergent paths, multiple choices. Thematic and coherent journeys as you experience little mini-games on various very familiar shores.
I would recommend this game to anyone who is a fan of Star Wars and is looking for a game that puts them in this world. As mentioned twice already, Rebellion is better. Get that first if you think you can take the longer play time and rules teach, it will be worth it. But if, like me, you also want something that is more accessible, then this delivers. It's not a short game but any stretch of the imagination, but it is a lot more accessible with the rules and complexity, and can be played in under two hours by two reasonably experienced players.